About me

Johannes Tonio Kreusch was graduated from the Salzburger Mozarteum and from the New York Juilliard School of Music. Since his début at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1996, his tours both as a soloist and as a chamber musician have taken him to many countries in Europe and Latin America, to the USA and the Middle East. In addition to the classical guitar repertoire, his interest is also focused on improvised and avant-garde music, which is as well reflected in his own compositions. His extensive collaboration with contemporary composers has resulted in many new compositions for the guitar.

Johannes Tonio Kreusch's numerous recordings for labels like Arte Nova, BMG, Oehms Classics, DGG and broadcasting companies like Bayerischer Rundfunk (Germany), NPS (Netherlands), ORF (Austria) or Radio Suisse Romande received high critical recognition and prestigious awards. His recordings not only include standard guitar repertoire (from the Lute Music of Bach to the manuscript version of the 12 Villa-Lobos Etudes) but also cover world premiere recordings of contemporary works and compositions of his own. As a chamber musician he frequently works with well-known artists like the Metropolitan Opera tenor Anthony Dean Griffey. The New York Times wrote about their recent Carnegie Hall recital: "...the audience could hardly bear to break the spell with applause..."

Johannes Tonio Kreusch teaches at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, teaches seminars and masterclasses and writes for international music magazines. He is artistic director of the International Guitar Festival Hersbruck/Germany.

His "...extremly sensual musical approach..." (Guitar Review, New York) together with his "...fantastic transparent, strong and delicate shaded playing..." (Akustik Gitarre, Germany) and his "...wonderful sense of harmony and brilliant technique..." (Reforma, Mexico-City) make critics count Johannes Tonio Kreusch "...without any doubt to the small circle of the great guitarists..." (Gazeta Wyborcza, Warszawa).